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Anyone have Model S charging information?

Anyone have Model S charging information?

Submitted by lolachampcar on Wed, 2012-11-21 19:21

I did a search on Tesla Model S charging white papers and all I came up with was press release related information on Tesla's Superchargers.

My Zero has an on board 1kw charger that charges the battery at 1/9C (9kw battery). It accepts 110 or 220V via a standard (high current) IEC printer type power cord. The 2013 models will also accept a CHAdeMO high speed charger. The Zero's battery is around 65V fully charged so the charger is a simple rectifier (AC to DC) regulator combination. The Model S seems to have a lot more going on.

I ordered my S with two on board 10kw chargers. There seems to be a few cord options (wall chargers) and the Supercharger route. Can someone shed some light on what happens between 110V, 220V and Superchargers and the battery with the Model S? My assumption is that all batteries have the same fully charged voltage and that capacity is determined by the number of cell sets in parallel. So, some of my questions would be-

The Model S comes with a Mobile Connector. Is this a simple direct cord from my wall outlet to the plug under the brake light lens?
I ordered the twin chargers which I assume takes the car from having one 10kw charger to two of them on board. Is this correct?
What is the High Power Wall Connector? I ask because $1200 would indicate it is something more than a simple cable from the wall to the car.
Is the connector under the brake lens the only charging connector on the car or does the Supercharger use a different connector?
Does the Supercharger supply high voltage current limited DC directly to the battery bypassing the on board chargers (be they one or two)?
What is the battery voltage of a fully charged battery?
Is the Supercharger supply under the direct supervision and direction of an on board battery management system?

Thanks for helping to fill in these gaps for me

Brian H |
31 januari 2013

cliff;
Consider the Sun Country x-country network in Canada, 70A (free) all the way.

edavis008 |
31 januari 2013

@nickjhowe - Your adaptor is BEAUTIFUL!! I didn't find a female 14-50 adaptor like this at Home Depot. Do you have to get these parts from an commercial electrical parts supplier or where?

nickjhowe |
31 januari 2013

I've been scouring ebay for a couple of weeks. It is easy to get them on commercial electrical sites, but they often want $100+ for the male, and another $100 for the female. If you are patient the come up on ebay and can be picked up for c. $20, as long as we don't all jump in at the same time!

The picture is the NEMA 14-30 plug; I've just got the 10-30 plug to make my other adapter. I coud have used stock dryer cords with molded plugs, but I preferred something a bit more robust.

Plus I picked up a NEMA 14-50p to 14-50r 30ft extension for $100 on Amazon. Tested it with the UMC and there's pretty much zero voltage drop. Now I should be able to charge at the two most common dryer outlets without any issues.

Probably never use any of them and the 50A extension is overkill but it is a cheap insurance policy. :-)

TM seems emphatic about not using extension cords. Is this simply a warning to scare people who might use inadequate extension cords?

jat |
1 februari 2013

@edavis008 - NEMA 14-50 describes the whole connector, and 14-50P is the plug while 14-50R is the receptacle.

There is technically no difference about having an extension cord and the wiring in your house -- ie plugging in on near your breaker box and running an extension cord will be the same as using the wiring in the house and plugging in nearer the car. The problem is that many people buy cheap extension cords, and they also aren't rated for continuous use -- most of the extension cords you buy for a regular 15A outlet aren't rated for anywhere close to 15A continuous.

If you use extension cords designed for RVs, and actually rated for 50A, you should be fine. Likewise if you are using a 6-50 adapter and using extension cords rated for 50A welders that would be fine as well.

nickjhowe |
1 februari 2013

A typical NEMA designation looks like L14-50r or 10-30p. In these examples the 10 or 14 refers to the type of connector, the L (or absence of L) indicates whether it is a locking-type connector, the 30 or 50 is the current rating and p or r identifies whether it is a plug or a receptacle.

14-50r is a fairly common 50A (40A continuous) outlet that is recommended for single inverter cars.
10-30r is a typical three pin dryer outlet that provides 24A continuous.
14-30r is a typical four pin dryer outletthat provides 24A continuous.

I think you are right about the 'scare' factor on cords.

Hills |
2 februari 2013

There are many of you who know a lot about various kinds of connectors. Besides the 14-50 that comes with the Model S, what would be the next most likely plug we would find in the wild? 14-30? Then 10-30 is next?

@Hills - that will work fine if what you need to plug it into is an L14-30, which isn't generally going to be in any house (the only place I have personally seen them is on generators and computer rooms for large UPSes).

I made 14-30 and 10-30 adapters, so I can plugin to dryer outlets at friend's houses if I need to. 6-50 would work for welders, if you have friends that weld. Beyond that, you aren't likely to get any use out of them unless you know a place with a specific outlet you want to be able to use.

Hills |
2 februari 2013

Jat: Thanks. Ok, to plug into dryer outlet, I need non-locking kind of 14-30 and 10-30.

nickjhowe |
2 februari 2013

@Hills - correct. 10-30 is an older style receptacle. Newer ones (last 15 years) are more likely to be 14-30. To be on the safe side, if there is somewhere you are likely to go (my usual long distrance trip is to my mother in laws) ask them to send you a photo of their dryer outlet so you know in advance that you are OK.

Hills |
2 februari 2013

Nickjhowe and Jat: Thank you.
I managed to find the 30 ft 50 Amp Nema 14-50 extension cord on Amazon, brand is Camco. I cannot find the adapters, which is probably why you made yours (looks beautiful). I am not motivated enough to learn to make my own. This is the closest I can find which looks like 10-30 on the male end. Can't find 14-30 adapter non locking kind. http://www.camco.net/Products/Item?prodID=10229

jat |
2 februari 2013

** If you don't know what you are doing, don't use these instructions **

@Hills - note that if you are going to make a 10-30 adapter, it is tricky. That is an ungrounded connector, and has the two hot phases and neutral. The 14-* series of connectors also has ground, and the Model S requires the two hot phases and ground and does not need neutral as it has no 120V loads. Neutral is bonded to ground at the main panel, and isn't supposed to be bonded anywhere else. So, you can route neutral from the 10-30 plug to ground on the 14-50 receptacle, but make sure you never ever use this for anything but charging the Model S as it is ungrounded.

jat |
2 februari 2013

@Hills - note that the Camco adapter is not NEMA 10-30, but instead a 120V plug (the 10-30 has an L-shape neutral pin, while the adapter above uses a rounded ground pin) that is a TT-30. You do not want this adapter, unless you happen to need to charge off a TT-30 receptacle.

aaronw2 |
4 februari 2013

Making an adapter should be a simple matter. The last time I was at my local Ace hardware store I saw 14-30 dryer cords right next to female 14-50 connectors. Both were around $10-12 each. I also found some adapters that are nicely molded and not very expensive on Amazon. I already got a nicely molded 10-30 to 14-50 adapter for around $20.

I also ordered a 10 gauge 100ft extension cord since I plan on driving up to Lake Tahoe. The place I'm staying at says they have 115v outlets but not next to the parking spaces. 10 gauge is suitable for 30A (24A continuous) though this would limit it to 12A. I figure with 10 gauge there will be a lot less loss compared to a 12 gauge extension cord. It's too bad that we can't up the current to 16A if we plug into a 20A 115v outlet since those are also rather common.

Hills |
4 februari 2013

@aaronw2
Would you share the link to the Amazon adapter you bought? I can't find it.

@aaronw2 - someone did make an adapter from a NEMA 6-20 plug (20A@120V) to a NEMA 14-50 receptacle -- the mobile connector seems to be autoranging and will happily accept 120V even though the adapter is for 240V. You will still have to manually adjust the car to 16A though.

@Hills - that extension cord should be ok. When you first use it, check it every so often to make sure it doesn't get too hot to hold.